Exercise Revolution

Do The Exercises – Only On The Good Side!

by Malcolm Fraser, PT

One day, my friend Luanne Olson, who teaches the Physical Therapy Assistant program at Oakton, emailed me about an unusual course, Total Motion Release. At the time the course was being offered, neither of us could make it. But Tom Delonzo-Baker was kind enough to share a little bit of information about the technique. Some time later, I tweaked my right SI (sacroiliac) joint late on a Thursday afternoon. I got through the Friday OK, with due care and caution.

On the Saturday morning I was more stiff and sore, but after sitting for an hour at the computer, that pain was around 6/10 and I could only stand up with great difficulty. I wondered whom I could call to fix me up. Then I thought, “Hang on, there's that one exercise from Total Motion Release, sit-to-stand on one leg. I should try that and see if the claims hold up.” Since I couldn't stand on the right leg, it was obvious which was the “good” side. I did the exercise as prescribed. The pain came down to 4/10, and I could stand on the right leg.

I had more computer work to do, so an hour later I was back to square one, but the exercise had the same beneficial result. Then I got serious. In between all the normal weekend activities, I did the exercise a lot. By the end of Sunday afternoon, the pain had gone, and the joint had clearly gone back into its proper alignment. I only did one, rather odd, exercise of standing up and sitting down – on the good leg.

The principle of Total Motion Release is like the way manual therapy techniques work – releasing restriction in connective tissue, so that the body physiology can work better and the body heal itself. Total Motion Release follows a basic principle of trusting what the body wants to do – trying not to stir up resistance. The body knows what it's doing, even in producing symptoms. So wherever possible, we want to follow along with the body's wisdom.

If there's an ache, soreness, stiffness or tightness in the body, or if you can find a movement that is easier, less painful, or has more range on one side than the other, the TMR exercises – done on the good side – can help. There are problems that need manual therapy, of course, and the exercises are such a great complement to that. They empower the client to get as much relief and benefit as possible between sessions, and make it easier for me, as the manual therapist, to do my job.

There are five basic exercises which I teach during a therapy session, but the technique can be infinitely variable, to take into account all kinds of issues, including how easily the client can perform them. For instance, take sit-to-stand on one leg. That's not a normal movement. Very few people will ever have had to do that in the course of a lifetime. But when I first started to show people the exercises, I was shocked to see how few people over 60 could do this, even when they were sitting on the edge of a relatively high massage table, Issues of balance and functional strength came up. Given that it is such an unusual motion, maybe not such a big deal. However, it also raises all the concerns of balance, and safe sitting-to-standing among the elderly. So when anyone cannot perform an exercise, it can always be modified to make it both safe and comfortable.

The exercises are equally applicable to the young and the restless – I worked with one extremely gifted high school soccer player, and the improvement in his range of motion, ease of play and stamina was very fast.    

Physical therapy doesn't have to be that hard, nor does it have to be painful. Exercising a joint that is willing and able to move, to heal and free up the opposite side, makes everybody's life easier.